Covering the period when rowing reached its height of popularity as a spectator sport, The Rise of Cornell Rowing 1871-1920 offers the reader perspective on the formative years of intercollegiate rowing in America. The formation of The Rowing Association of American Colleges in the 1870s began a movement towards collegiate sport conferences. Thereafter, many of the original competitors continued their sports rivalries, which later would form the basis for the Ivy League Conference. The Rise of Cornell Rowing 1871-1920 discusses the evolution of both rowing as a sport, and Cornell as a university. Covering Columbia, Pennsylvania, and Cornell's early races in the 1880s, the reader is provided context as to why the three original members formed the Intercollegiate Rowing Association. With the association's membership expanding thereafter, the development of rowing programs by subsequent members, including Wisconsin, Georgetown, Syracuse, Navy, Stanford and Washington, is discussed. The importance of collegiate rowing within American culture is illustrated, with championship races receiving national coverage, and attracting enormous crowds, sometimes exceeding 100,000. Readers are transported to a time when race enthusiasts would walk four miles to watch regattas on Saratoga Lake, wait in long lines to board observation trains in Poughkeepsie, and even sleep on pool tables for lack of hotel space in Springfield. While their success during this era focused attention on Cornell, the championship victories of Pennsylvania, Columbia, Syracuse, Yale, Wisconsin, Princeton, and Bowdoin are detailed for rowing history enthusiasts.